Bowden 'Anxious' To See This Team Develop

College football '89 A chat with Bobby Bowden

Orlando Sentinel: Your schedule is the toughest in the country this year. How tough is it going to be to duplicate or better the 11-1 records of the last two years?

A: Our schedule might not allow us to be as good as we are. We play eight bowl teams this year. That's good criteria for alumni, but not for coaches. I feel good about the people coming back. The talent level is not going to change that much even though we lost Deion Sanders, Sammie Smith and Pat Tomberlin. The big decrease is experience. We lost so many three and four-year starters. We will replace them with guys just about as talented but they're in their first year. . . . If we stay healthy, we have a chance to improve every Saturday. I'm really anxious to see this football team.

Q: What sort of season do you project for quarterback Peter Tom Willis?

A: Peter Tom has been very patient backing up Chip Ferguson and before that, Danny McManus, the last few years and now he's ready to go. He may be as good as anybody we had last year. He's an 'A' student, he has a gun for an arm and he's already proven himself. I hope he has the best year of any quarterback in the country. He deserves it a lot. A lot of guys couldn't have been that patient.

Q: How much different is it this year in terms of approaching the season not being ranked No. 1?

A: Last year we went in there No. 1 with everyone bragging on us. We believed it and we played like we believed it. We were not prepared for all that flattery we were getting. The difference is experience. Teams in the Super Bowl the first time don't know how to handle the pressure. Physically, I've never had a team more ready to play.

Q: What are your top concerns?

A: If I had to put it in order, I'd say the secondary first, then the offensive line second and the kicking game, third. We can patch together the kicking game to where it could be decent. On the offensive line, we've been redshirting some good players. Offensive Coordinator Wayne McDuffie has got to whip them into a unit but that's going to take time. The defensive secondary can hurt you the worst, that's why I say it's the No. 1 concern.

Q: Do you ever look at your schedule and try to figure out what final record would make you consider it a successful season?

A: I usually look at it and try to find out how we can win them all. The closest I ever come to figuring how many games we will win is trying to determine the games we'll be favored in. This is going to be a wait-and-see season for us. We're favored in the first game and if we win, we'll probably be favored in the second. If we win that game, we'll be favored in the next one. If we lose, then the next team is so good, they'll probably be favored.